[CS] CS WEDNESDAY NOON TALK, March 5 by Rebecca Keller (F13) and Jonathan Westphal, *Russell and the Conflict Between Physics and Experience, * in the ASH Lobby at Noon

[Paula Harmon]

Rebecca Keller (F13) and Jonathan Westphal
"Russell and the Conflict Between Physics and Experience"

Abstract: Science seems to conflict with everyday experience. Science 
tells us about wavelengths, but we experience colors. Science tells us 
about the energy of molecules, but we experience heat. Bertrand Russell 
took the view that this conflict is to be resolved in favour of science 
against everyday experience, and that everyday experience contradicts 
itself. We will discuss this argument in various forms.

'Naive realism leads to physics. Physics, if true, shows that naive 
realism is false. Therefore naive realism if true is false. Therefore it 
is false.' - Bertrand Russell

Biographical:
Rebecca Keller (F13) is a second-semester Div II focusing on cognitive 
philosophy. After declaring a major in cognitive science at Case Western 
Reserve University, she transferred to Hampshire where she became more 
interested in more philosophical queries about the mind. Her interests 
include phenomenology, especially the formation of the phenomenological 
self-model; and metaphysics, especially logical formulations of the 
mind-body problem. Outside of her academic studies, Rebecca enjoys 
petting dogs, riding her bike, and petting more dogs.

Jonathan Westphal is a Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Hampshire 
College, teaching philosophy in the School of Cognitive Sciences. He has 
interests in the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, 
metaphysics, and epistemology. His most recent work has been on the 
philosophy of time and on freewill, and the relation between the two, 
for example in his "Is There a Modal Fallacy in Van Inwagen's "First 
Formal Argument"?' Analysis 72 (2012). He is currently teaching a class 
on the philosophy of language and, together with other members of CS, a 
class on the philosophy of color.

In The ASH Lobby
A light lunch will be available at noon
-- 
Paula Harmon, Administrative Assistant
School of Cognitive Science
Hampshire College
893 West Street Amherst, MA 01002
phone: 413.559.5502
fax: 413.559.5438
http://cs.hampshire.edu
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